Doubt
by lunaclovegrimm
Summary: Annabeth is always doubting herself. So when a red headed bully enters fifth grade she has to stop second guessing her life and realize who her true friends are, and how strong she can be. As Annabeth faces her fears, relives her old friendship, and finds someone to encourage her to be strong, she finds her one goal before middle school is to stop doubting. OOC/ no gods.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfiction, so bear with me and no flames please. Thank you. Enjoy!**

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I walked into the kitchen with my frizzy blonde hair sticking out in every which way. I could smell the pancakes my dad was making on the griddle. Grabbing the blueberry ones on the counter, I began to eat. Our family doesn't always cook breakfast, except on special occasions. And this is what I definitely consider a special occasion. The first day of school! I ate quickly, wanting to get to school as quickly as possible.

It would be my last year at Goode Elementary school before I go on to middle school. I had met all my best friends in kindergarten and the four girls and I stuck together like paper and glue throughout all the years. Even though I just saw them all last week, I missed them. And we would also be seeing all our other friends too! I was thinking about all this when my two brothers barreled into the room, demanding pancakes.I wished them good morning and then cleared my plates before heading upstairs to my room.

As I got ready for the fist day of school, so many thoughts whirled around in my head. You see, I'm a thinker. I enjoy reading a lot, and reading so many words makes being curious and thinking a lot come naturally to me. I was the smartest student at Goode Elementary School, and I had always been in the advanced classes along with my friends. This year, my best friends Katie,Thalia, Clarisse, Silena and I were going to be in the same class for once. Except for kindergarten, we had always been split apart from each other and only saw each other at lunch. Our teacher was Mr. Brunner, who had been at Goode longer than any one else, even the principal.

I looked down at my outfit,, a simple blue tank-top with plaid shorts and flip-flops. I had packed my backpack the night before, so I grabbed it from the entryway and said good-bye to my brothers and dad. My mom was on a business trip in Florida for the time being before she returned to New York. Last night she called and wished me luck for my first day. My parents take the first day of school very seriously because they are brainiacs, like me. My daddesigns airplanes and my mom is a lawyer. I would not want either of their jobs because I prefer architectural design.

After the good-byes, I left the house in a rush, eager to get to school. We live two blocks away from Goode, so it would be a quick walk. And then I started worrying. I wondered if my outfit was okay for school. I wondered if a new kid would come in this year and would be smarter than me. I wondered if my friends met a girl somewhere and thought she was cooler than me.

_"Shut-up Annnabeth!"_ I scolded myself. _"Stop doubting yourself!"_

It wouldn't be the first I doubted myself though, and I knew it wouldn't be the last. But I decided to stop anyway.

When I reached the corner of the first block, I recognized one of my friends who lives a block away from my house.

"Hey, Percy!" I called out. The dark haired, green eyed boy looked around for the caller. When he saw me, he waved and i jogged over. We had known each since second grade and he had been in the class for the past three years. He wasn't one of my best friends, but we were close.

"What teacher did you get this year?" I asked him.

"Um, Brunner- the old one." He replied. I laughed.

" Me too!" I said excitedly, "so that's the fourth year we're in the same class?'

"Yup!" He gave me a high- five. We then turned the corner and saw Goode.

It was big friendly brick building with thirty classrooms and two play structures. All the teachers were nice, except for the computer teacher. She was an old crab. Percy and I walked into a hallway to get to the lunch tables, which is were the fifth graders wait before school starts. His friends Grover and Nico called him over.

"Bye!" Percy said. I nodded bye to him, distracted by a group of kids in the corner of the lunch courts. In the center of it,a skinny blonde boy was joking around. Next to him a red- headed girl was laughing. I recognized the two of them and rolled my eyes, thinking about how horrible it would be if they were in Brunner's class with me.

Suddenly, I heard a shriek of "ANNABETH!" and was tackled from behind. I laughed and turned around to greet Thalia and the rest of my best friends.

There was no new smart kid. No cool girl with my friends. My outfit was normal like everyone else's. If only I could ignore the blonde boy and the red-head for the rest of the year, I was set. One more year, and that was it. I would be in middle school. I've heard people say fifth grade is the best. I would soon soon learn that those people are liars.

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**Oooo! Why doesn't Annabeth like those two kids? Any guesses on who they are? If you didn't like my story, I apologize, but this is my first fanfiction. Please read and review!**

**-lunaclovegrimm**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for clicking on my story! As I said before, this is my first fanfiction, so please be nice. If you like this story, tell people about it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson stories.**

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My friends dragged me to a lunch where their backpacks were. I dropped mine down next to the others and sat down between Clarrise and Katie. I looked at Silena questionably when I noticed that she had been staring at my eyes.

"Have you ever thought about eye make-up?" she asked,"It would do amazing things to your grey eyes."

This kind of comment was not surprising coming from Silena. She was always recommending different kinds of make-up to the five of us. No one had ever taken her up on any offers. But it wasn't the first time I had heard people talk about how my eyes would look better if I added mascara or eyeliner. See,(no pun intended) I've got these stormy grey eyes that I have inherited from my mother. They are my favorite element of my face because they make me look braver than I am.

I joined the conversation my friends were having. We were talking about what sports we were planning on playing this year. There aren't a lot of club sports at our school, but there is soccer, track and field, volleyball, baseball(boys only), and softball(girls only). The sports are only available to fourth and fifth graders. Last year, none of us did any of the sports. We didn't have a lot of experience, but I was secretly just too afraid to try out. I probably wouldn't make it on the team anyway.

"So what about you Annabeth?" Thalia asked. I shrugged in response.

"Well I'm doing softball!" Thalia said. "And I'll end up being the MVP from scoring a millon goals a game!"

Clarisse snorted."It's runs, Thalia, _runs."_

Thalia looked confused. "What?"

"You score runs in softball, not goals. Are you sure softball is the game for you?"Clarisse said.

"I could learn the rules!" Thalia argued.

"From who? None of us know how to play well. We couldn't teach you." Katie responded. The rest of us nodded our heads in agreement. She was right.

"Anyway, how about you Clarrise?" I asked. We continued the conversation, all of us having different answers.

The five of us all have extremely diverse personalities. Most people like that would clash, but we don't. I think it brings us closer together.

I am the smartest out of all of us. I am also the shyest. It wasn't always like that, but things change overtime. I am also the only one in our group who siblings, which makes me the peacemaker when two of them get in a fight. I were simple clothes, and no make-up or nail polish. i am the second tallest of us because of my long legs. Those legs also make me the fastest, which is how the five of us came to a conclusion that I would be best at track and field as a sport this year. In kindergarten, I was the second girl in our 'group', but I'll explain that as I tell you about the rest of the girls.

Clarrise is the tom-boy of the five of us. Outgoing and brave describe her has dirty blonde hair and green eyes. Clarrise wears some-what boyish clothes and a couple kids in fourth grade are terrified of her. But once you get to know her, she has has a very nice heart and can be very funny. Her mom is a college teacher and her dad is triathlon mentor, which is how she gets her tough genes. She is a star at swimming, hiking, and biking,but otherwise she doesn't do a lot of sports. But her body is built for soccer, and that was her choice of sport. She joined our group third, after me. However, her height doesn't match the way the rest of body is. Being the second shortest in our group, she is often teased by other classmates about it.

Katie went to the same preschool as Clarisse, but they weren't friends when they entered kindergarten. But once they got to know each other, they became close friends and there was less fighting in our group. Katie joined our group after Clarisse and got to know the rest of us. We learned that she adores gardening, baking, cooking, and reading. She has a cat as a pet and her parents are owners of a restaurant. Unlike the rest of us, Katie is always quick to look at the bright side of things and can be friends with anyone. She is the second smartest of our group and her height is right in the middle. She doesn't dress differently from other people, but every day she figures out a way to have a flower in her outfit. She has light brown hair that is shoulder length and hazel eyes. Out of all of us, she gets made fun of the least. Because a team sport would be good for her, she is going out for volleyball.

Thalia is the tallest in our group. She has very short black hair with neon blue highlights that match her stunning blue eyes. Most people would call her goth as she only wears black and punk-like clothes. However, Thalia is a very nice person but can get edgy at times. She was the first person in our group and she probably isn't the smartest in it. She was held back in kindergarten, but she is still smart. Otherwise she wouldn't be in the advanced class Brunner teaches. Like she said before, she is going to try to go out for softball. Other classmates call her loser, goth girl, and other names. But she finds a way to deal with it.

Silena is the absolute girly girl of our group. There is never a day that she doesn't wear pink or have nail polish on. She is the shortest girl in our group and was the last to join. She has long dark hair and really pretty dark blue eyes. Outside of school, she is a flyer for cheerleading(the one that gets thrown into the air). Because she does that outside of school, she does not plan on doing a sport for Goode. She has a pet hamster and a bazillion fish as pets. Her dad owns a chocolate shop and her mom is a fashion designer. In our group she clashes mostly with Thalia, usually about her fashion choices.

Our group formed in the beginning of the second month of kindergarten. Thalia needed a partner on a project, so I volunteered. we began talking about our lives and for the next couple days, we played together at recess. After a week had passed, we were best friends and were inseparable. Then one day, Thalia and I wanted to play jump rope but we needed a second person to hold one end of the rope. A short girl with medium length dirty blonde hair who was in our class came forward and joined in. We all sat together the next day and learned more about Clarisse. Then, Katie asked if she could sit with us the next week. It was surprising how fast we clicked, even with a couple arguments. Halfway through the year, we got a transfer student from L.A., California. We welcomed Silena the new girl to our group and aat the end of kindergarten it was settled. Best friends for life. Nothing could tear us apart. and here we are, still best friends waiting for the bell to ring.

And there it was. A familiar echoing riiiing coming out of the loudspeakers all over the school.

The five of us linked arms and walked into the hallway where Mr. Brunner's class was. Classroom number six.

'_Here we go. enjoy the last second before school starts.' _I thought to myself.

We entered the classroom and found a table of five to sit at(we get to choose our seats on the first day). Mr. Brunner stood at the front of the classroom. He had brown hair and a beard. Everyday he wears a tweed jacket to class.

My friends and I looked at all the kids entering the classroom, nodding and waving occasionally. Then I saw the red- headed girl and the blonde boy enter classroom, smirking. I immediately ducked my head and ignored them. Of all classes, they were in _**mine?**_

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**Sorry if that chapter was boring for you, I just felt like you needed some background information on Annabeth's friends. Thank you for reading and PLEASE REVIEW! Any guesses on who the two kids are? **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you followers for following!:) Hope like this chapter and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

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Luke Castellan and Rachel Dare.

The two people who had ruined my life last year. They passed by our table with mutters of _loser._ Behind the two of them were Charles, Michael, Lee, and Chris; all of Luke's friends who enjoyed watching Luke and Rachel pick on other classmates. I used to know all of them as if they were my brothers. And the red-head tore me apart from them without a reason.

I watched as the six of them crossed the room, glaring at Rachel and Luke. With a jolt, I remembered the first day of fourth grade:

_Laughing, Luke and I entered the classroom. Grover was in between us, making jokes. The three of us led Charles and the other three boys to a table where we all sat down. The bell still hadn't rung yet, so the seven of us all talked about what we did over the summer. Between camps and vacations, I hadn't seen any of them since the end of third grade- the year I became best friends with Luke and Grover. After meeting them, I clicked with the rest of their friends. _

_When Chris started talking about his summer, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to face Thalia and Katie. _

_"We saved you a spot at our table," said Katie, gesturing across the room, "Why don't you come sit with us? I didn't think you would be sitting with the boys."_

_"Sorry, but I can't really leave a spot I took. Besides, if I leave, they would have to find a new table. And do you see any tables for six here?" I replied._

_"What about at lunch? It's going to be the only time we can see Silena and Clarisse at school. You have to sit with us then. Besides, why are you still hanging out with these guys? I thought this was, like, a one year thing." Thalia said._

_"So you guys just expect me to drop out of my group of best friends because you thought it only lasted a year? And I can't sit with you guys at lunch; I've already promised I would sit with the guys." I said._

_"Fine, but I expected the smartest girl in school to know better than dump her best friends for new ones." Thalia replied. Then she and Katie went back to their table. _

_Then, I noticed someone glaring at me from a couple tables over. The eyes were green and had a few stands of red hair covering them. Rachel was glancing back and forwards between Luke and I. She looked extremely angry and I couldn't help but guess that those green eyes would bring me down one day. _

"Hey Annabeth, you okay?"

I looked up to see Katie's thoughtful eyes on me. I realized I had a sad expression on my face and quickly wiped it away.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine." My friends nodded, but didn't look convinced.

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Mr. Brunner started off the day reviewing what we would be learning about this year. There wasn't anything special about it, just regular math, writing, science, history, reading, and physical education after lunch. Mr. Brunner would be teaching all the subjects to us, except for PE, which would be taught by Coach Argus.

After he was done with the introduction, Mr. Brunner gave us instructions to write a short paper about ourselves and our hobbies. We would turn it in at lunchtime. We were also free to talk to the people at our table and get their opinions about us.

I chewed my lip nervously. A paper about us? What could I write; Hi my name is Annabeth Chase and people tell me I'm a genius and I don't believe them? I couldn't say much else, and I didn't want to get other people's opinions about me, even if they were my friends. What if they admitted they hated me? What if they said I was a show-off? What if one of them said how I was a total loser as of last year?

_"Shut-up inner-self! Stop second guessing yourself! It's just a tiny paper. You'll have no problem with it!" _I thought.

"Hey, Blondie," said a voice above my head. My breath hitched, knowing who it was. I didn't want to turn around, but I did, narrowing my eyes.

"What do you want Luke?" I snapped, standing up to meet his eyes.

"Aww, come on Annabeth! Can't two friends just have a chat?" he said. He glanced behind his shoulder, making sure we weren't drawing attention to ourselves. Kids had gotten up from tables and were making their way around the classroom, talking to old classmates. was helping a kid. The only people watching us were Rachel, Charles, Percy, Grover and my table group.

"I hardly think we're friends Luke," I said coldly.

"Ah, that's right," he said, nodding his head. "I forgot our conversation in the beginning of fourth grade. We're more than friends, we're like-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Luke!" Grover had risen from his table and joined in mine and Luke's spat.

"Go back to your table cripple!" Luke snarled.

"Hey! Lay off of Grover okay?" I shot at Luke.

"Whatever," he sneered. "Have fun with the freaks."

He gestured to my friends at the word 'freaks', and then walked back to his table where Rachel was smirking at me. I ignored her and turned to Grover. He was staring at his feet, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

"He changed a lot." Grover whispered. He hobbled away on his crutches. He had a leg disability so he had to use crutches to get around. Most kids in our grade are used to them, because he's had them since kindergarten. Other kids just don't have a heart when it comes to that kind of stuff.

I thought about what Grover said. Luke had changed a lot, and it wasn't for the better. It was for the worse.

In response to Grover's statement, I whispered to myself so no one else could hear me; "Yeah. Too much."

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**Please review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**-lunaclovegrimm**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you any reviewers/followers! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

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When the bell rang for lunch, there was an immediate stampede for the door. Silena yelped, and jumped back, which made Thalia smirk. When most of the class had left, my friends and I packed up our stuff and headed out the door.

The fifth graders sit outside some bathrooms and second-graders classrooms. The lunch area was almost like a mini courtyard. It had some benches and picnic tables, along with some trees surrounded by planter boxes that you could sit on.

We headed over to an empty table in the sun, and began unpacking our lunches. The fifth graders had thirty minutes to eat, before we head down to a large blacktop area for another thirty minutes where games of flag football, handball, basketball, and four square are played.

If you don't play any of the games, you can just sit down or walk around and talk. My friends and I have mostly just done the last option, except for some days when we're all hyped up. The fourth and fifth graders have to share the blacktop area after lunch, so about sixty kids are in the yard at a time, so it isn't too crowded. When we eat, there is zero adult supervision, which is both good and bad.

The four girls and I started discussing our morning and what we thought of Mr. Brunner. Then, I heard some shouting coming from one of the planter boxes. Rachel Dare was smirking at Grover, holding a binder in her hands. Grover was tripping over himself, trying to get the binder.

"Give it back Rachel!" he yelled. I looked for Percy and Nico, but I couldn't find them.

"No way cripple!" Rachel taunted, getting Luke to smirk.

"What are you gonna do loser? Tell a teacher?" One of Luke's other cronies scoffed.

Rachel began flipping through the binder, observing some of the paperwork Brunner had given the class. She yawned, looking disappointed that she hadn't found any good papers to steal or torment him apart. Just as she flipped the binder over, looking ready to throw it back to him, her eyes flashed on something on the back cover.

She looked a little shocked, but recovered quickly.

"Aww, look what little loser has on his binder. Looks like cripple misses his old friends, even the little blondie. How cute…Too bad you and the freak girl are too pathetic to hang out with them anymore." Rachel said, sneering. She handed the binder back to Grover, and I saw Luke catch a glance at the paper (maybe a picture?). He looked pretty stunned too, but then he just turned around and continued eating his lunch.

"Grover!"

Looks like Percy and Nico finally decided to show up. They jogged over to Grover, and the three of them started talking. Both of their expressions turned to outrage, and they glared at Rachel and Luke. Grover just shrugged it off and started looking around the lunch area.

"Hey, girls, did you see that?" Thalia hissed. We all nodded in response. Clarisse had her eyes locked on me, but nobody mentioned that I was the girl Rachel mentioned.

"Would you be okay if I called them over to sit with us?" I asked. After getting a positive result, I caught Percy's eye, and waved, beckoning them towards our table. He grabbed the two boys, and led them to where we were.

"It looks like you guys need a place to sit." I said, raising my eyebrows. The three of them nodded, and then took seats next to us.

Grover still looked a little discouraged, and I poked him across the table.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'm still just floored at their behavior. Lukes, I mean, not Rachel's. She's always been a jerk to us." He responded.

"What was Rachel looking at anyways?" I asked.

"A picture from last year." Grover said, and then passed me the paper Rachel had been teasing him about earlier.

My heart stopped when I saw it. The background was a park that our grade had gone to the beginning of last year. But what had shocked me were the people in the picture. Luke, Charles, and Chris were all smiling, acting as if they wanted the day to never end. In front of Charles and Chris, Grover was on his crutches, laughing at something. He looked so happy to be hanging out with his best friends at the time. Next to Grover and in front of Luke, was a skinny blonde girl holding a book and grinning ear to ear. Her grey eyes were shining and it looked like she was immensely proud of herself.

The girl was me.

This was before everything had changed and had taken a turn for the worse. But no matter how much I hated Luke and his friends now, I couldn't help but miss the old times.

I sighed, and handed the picture back to Grover. He smiled a sad smile, and I know he missed the old times too.

"Don't let it get to you Grover. Those guys are first-class idiots." Percy said.

After that, we let the subject drop and we started talking about school sports. Grover couldn't do any with his disability, and Nico wasn't a sporty kind of guy. Percy did swimming outside of school, so he was going to continue doing that.

Percy nudges my arm from his spot next to me. I looked at him, raising my eyebrows in a questioning way.

"So…um, well, doyouthinkyou'llbewalkinghomealotthisyear?" Percy muttered, blushing the whole time.

I laughed, getting a sheepish smile out of him.

"Yeah, I mean, unless I get onto the track team and have practices after school; I think I'll be walking back and forth from school this year." I said.

"Well I was wondering if you'd be interested in walking together 'cause we live so close and stuff?" Percy asked.

"That would be cool! Thanks Percy!"

He looked pretty shocked that I said yes, but also very relieved and happy. Last year, we hadn't walked home with anyone and I think we could both agree it was quite boring without someone to talk to and joke around with. And Percy and I knew each other enough to have it not be awkward.

"Percy!" Katie called from the end of the table, "Why did you and Nico stay so late in Mr. Brunner's classroom?"

"Oh yeah- I forgot!" Percy said. "Well he was wondering if I could help clean his classroom every morning before school starts. He said he would tell me where he puts his keys to get in and that I could choose three friends to help out with it. And the four of us would just wipe down desks and cabinets. And we would get extra-credit for the year."

"So, who's going to do it with you?" Clarisse asked.

"Well, Nico and Grover obviously, and I was actually hoping that Annabeth could help us." He said.

I looked up, surprised.

"Glad to help! And anything for extra credit!" I said happily. Looks like I would be gaining three new friends this year.

The bell rang for the second half of lunch and we packed up our food.

Clarisse had sprinted ahead, grabbing something from the ball rack. When Katie, Thalia, Silena, Percy, Nico, Grover, and I caught up to her, we saw she was holding a red rubber ball.

"Handball anyone?"

We laughed, and then the eight of us ran to find a court together.

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**Yeah, I know, bad ending. So...a little Percabeth friendship and some stuff about Annabeth's past. Hope you enjoyed and please review!**

**-lunaclovegrimm**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Just started school. Anyway, one with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or the song A Thousand Years.**

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We could tell five minutes into our handball game that Clarisse was the best. No one could beat her, so we all called quits for the time being. Silena, Katie, Thalia, Clarisse, Nico, Percy, and I walked over to Grover who had been watching our game. We sat down on the three foot wall next to him, watching as some fourth grade girls took over our court.

"Can we agree that next time we handball, Clarisse has to go easy on us?" Katie said.

She got a laugh out of everyone in response. We were all quiet for a moment, before I asked a question that I curious about.

"Are you all going to Goode Middle School?"

The Goode Schools Project had finished a couple years ago. The construction group that worked for The Goode Schools Project had built a middle school and elementary school to accompany the high school that had already been built a long time ago. A majority of kids go to all three schools (Like me), but some transfers happen between elementary and middle school.

I knew Silena, Katie, and Clarisse would all be joining me at Goode Middle School, but Thalia was going to a private school called Artemis's School for Girls, which was run by an old lady whose ancestors had opened the school in 1904. All the women in Thalia's family had gone there, and she thought it was pretty cool to go to an all-girls school.

"Yeah, I'm going to all three Goode schools." Percy said. I figured he would do that, he didn't seem like a kid to go to a private school or something.

Nico shrugged.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm supposed to wait until the end of the year to decide. You know, if I'm positive I like the feeling of Goode schools," he said. "And Bianca's off to college so I don't have to worry about her schedule not being the same as mine if I transfer."

"I'm going to continue onto Goode Middle School with Percy. The schools are good for kids with disabilities." Grover said.

I snorted.

"The schools may respect kids with disabilities but the kids sure don't." I blurted out.

The rest of my friends nodded their heads, and I know that all of them know that I was talking about Rachel and Luke. Grover flinched, remembering what happened earlier.

"Well, I can all tell you truthfully that Red Head will not be going to Goode Middle School or High School. She'd transferring to Clarion Ladies Academy because her parents want her to go and I think she thinks that everyone here isn't up to her standards." Silena said.

"Yeah, but Luke is coming to Goode Middle School so we're stuck with him for many more years." Percy said.

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the end of our conversation.

"No homework tonight class!" Mr. Brunner said.

The end of school bell rang.

"One down, one-hundred-and-seventy to go!" Thalia cried, getting a laugh out of my friends and I.

"Percy, Nico, Grover, Annabeth- may I have a word with you?" Mr. Brunner said.

I saw Rachel smirk at us, like she thought we were going to get a detention or something.

_"Sure, __**one**__ of the smartest girls in school would get detention on the first day of school. That'll happen." _I thought.

"So," Mr. Brunner said, "You four will be cleaning my classroom in the mornings every day. I do not expect it to be spotless, but please don't fool around. You will start on the Monday of the second week of school. Percy, I will give you the keys to my classroom at the end of this week. Don't lose them. I think that is about it as far as instructions go. The cleaning stuff is in that cabinet."

He pointed to a tall cabinet in the corner, and then signaled us to go. The four of us exited the classroom. Thalia, Clarisse, Silena, and Katie were outside waiting. We said our good-byes and arranged a meeting spot on the lunch court before school where we could meet (before I start cleaning), and then Percy and I started heading home.

The walk home is about 15 minutes. We don't have to worry about kidnappers and such because we live in a safe area.

We walked out of the entrance to school and turned left. I started up a conversation. For a while we walked and talked about our favorite things that we did over the summer. Percy had visited the set for his favorite television show, which he had really enjoyed. I told him about how I went to Florida with my family.

Talking to him felt natural. I never questioned what I was about to say or what to respond to him. It was just like talking to any of the girls. And it was nothing like third and fourth grade. Pushing that last thought out of my head, I listened to Percy's story about the preschool he had volunteered at over the summer. We continued telling each other stories, both of us making the other laugh.

Too soon, I finished a story and Percy and I said good-bye to each other, separating to walk the last blocks to our houses.

I opened the door to our skinny two-story home, dropping my backpack in the entrance area and calling into the kitchen.

"I'm home!"

My mom, Christine, looked up from her work and came over to greet me. I told her about how I was with all my best-friends, and about working in the mornings starting next week. I didn't mention Luke or Rachel because I knew she would just immediately call the office and complain.

She was very happy about everything, and then told me that my dad was picking up my two brothers, Bobby and Matthew from their school. They go to a different school then me because the boys didn't want to go to a public school, and all of their friends didn't go to Goode. Their school is a fifteen minute drive away, so they can't walk back and forth.

I grabbed a snack, and then went up to my room. I would have about ten minutes of quiet before my rambunctious brothers arrived. I opened up my backpack and began organizing my binder for school, grabbing materials from my desk. By the time I was done with that, I heard a car pulling up on the sidewalk. I glanced out of my second-story window and saw my dad, Fredrick, and my brothers coming out of the Sopwith Camel. I put my stuff away and then came downstairs to greet my brothers. Today was their first day of school too, and I wanted to hear all about it.

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Once I had returned to my room, I started sketching some buildings from across the street. I had a really good view of some of the windows on one house and if I leaned my head to one side, I could see the rooftop of another apartment. The architectural details in those windows and that roof were outstanding! I had a great eye for detail, and I use that to my advantage for studying architecture. One of my favorite pastimes was drawing some really good architectural buildings I saw around the area.

It was my dream to become an architect, and many people had told me that what I did would be great for fulfilling my dream.

I hummed along to the music playing in my room, edging my pencil along the paper as I listened.

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years._

_I'll love you for a thousand more._

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me _

_I have loved you for a thousand years._

_I'll love you for a thousand more._

As I finished up my sketch, I put the paper into a folder packed with drawings. I thought about my dream. I wondered if it would ever happen and if I would be one of the most famous architects in New York. I highly doubt it.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**-lunaclovegrimm**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello readers! Thank you for reviewing my last chapter. This chapter skips ahead to the Monday of the second week of school.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

* * *

My alarm rang at 6:45, causing me to tumble out of bed in surprise, making a soft _thud_. I have always woken up at about 7:10, so this waking up early thing to clean Mr. Brunner's classroom (we were starting today) was not going to come easily for me.

I stood up and walked over to the window, opened the curtains slightly. It was dark and gray outside, and it looked positively freezing. I crept over to my dresser, knowing that any loud noises of creaks of the floorboard could wake Bobby and Matthew, who were in the bedroom next door.

After I gathered some papers for school, I pulled on a gray sweater and jeans, grabbed my backpack, and crept downstairs. My dad usually comes into the kitchen at 7'o-clock to make our lunches and prepare breakfast. I knew I would have to eat fast to leave at 7:15, which would make me arrive at school at 7:30, the time we were to meet at the classroom.

I pulled out two slices of bread and began making myself a sandwich. My dad came into the kitchen, wishing me a good- morning. He got set by the stove-top and began cooking scrambled eggs, making small talk with me. By 7:10, I was done making my lunch and eating breakfast. I hurried upstairs to brush my teeth and run a brush through my hair.

I came back downstairs just in time, pulling my sneakers on and calling good-bye to my parents and brothers, who had all come downstairs by this time. I stepped out the door, getting a blast of fresh air throw at my face. I began making my way to school, going over Mr. Brunner's instructions in my mind.

* * *

When I reached Classroom Six, I saw that the lights were on. The door wasn't closed completely, so I pushed it open and looked around Mr. Brunner's classroom. The lights were on, and Percy's backpack was on top of his desk. I took some more steps into the room.

"Percy, are you in here?" I called.

His head popped up from behind the counter in the back of the classroom.

"Annabeth," he called back, "I didn't hear you come in! Drop of your backpack and help me!"

I shrugged my backpack off my shoulders and onto my desk, glancing at the clock. It was 7:25. I walked to Percy behind the counter, squatting down to help him reach a duster. Percy told me later that it was the only thing that wasn't in the tall cabinet because it hadn't been used for so long.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Since 7:20, so, not that long. I had to make sure the keys and the lights worked." He said.

When I finally reached the duster, Percy walked over and opened the cabinet door, making some stuff fall on top of him.

"Klutz," I muttered, and then walked over to help him.

After we had gotten the mop (who uses a mop in a carpeted classroom?), broom, a wipes package, and some rags off him, Percy and I began spreading the materials around the classroom to where they would be used (except for the mop). When we finished that, Grover and Nico walked into the room, yawning.

The four of us began cleaning the desks, whiteboard, counter, and carpeted area behind the counter, which is where kids sit down and read when they have extra- time. At 7:50, we began putting away our cleaning materials. The classroom didn't look like a palace, but there was some definite improvement. Mr. Brunner walked in after having been at the teachers' lounge, and nodded in appreciation.

"I didn't expect you guys to do this well," He said. "You can just wait in here until the other students come."

So we waited, laughing and talking for a couple of minutes before the bell rang and I hopped off of Grover's desk, and returned to my seat to wait for my friends.

* * *

When they made the announcement about track-and-field tryouts, I remembered that I had said to my parents the night before that I was going to stay after school to tryout. I didn't regret what I said, but I did begin to grow nervous about the tryouts. It was the only sport I was interested in, and I really wanted to make it on the team. Since there were very few elementary school's that had sport teams, only about fifteen kids get on the team to run. It was co-ed, so there aren't two different teams and only fourth and fifth graders get to participate.

I knew tryouts were going to last about an hour, and Thalia, Clarisse, and Percy said that they were all going to watch the tryouts and cheer me on. I knew that they were only trying to be great friends, but I also knew that their presence would just make me even more nervous.

The rest of the day happened, and then the dismissal bell rang, making the butterflies in my stomach turn into hedgehogs, and making my stomach go queasy. Katie, Silena, Grover, and Nico all wished me luck as they left, the girls giving me quick hugs. I thanked them, and then Thalia, Clarisse, Percy, and I began walking the two blocks to Goode High School, where we would be running on the track that they have there.

At the tryouts, the kids warm-up, run a timed mile, run two different timed sprints, and do a baton relay. Based on your times for each event, the coach, Argos (also our PE teacher) will decide what two events you're best at. Then he'll compare our times in those events to the other kids' times in the events. And then he will finally come to a conclusion, probably taking four kids for the mile, five kids for sprints, and six kids for the relays.

If one kid qualifies for two different events, more people will get on team, giving the students trying out a better chance at getting on team. According to my friends, family, and previous PE teachers, I am best at running the sprints and relays. I guess I'm not a long-distance kind of runner, which is perfectly fine by me.

When we got to the field, about thirty kids were already there.

_"Half of them will be cut. I'll be one of them. I'm almost sure of it." _I thought.

"Hey, Annabeth, we're going to go find a spot in the bleachers." Thalia said.

I nodded, still staring at all the kids who were on the field, worrying about the next hour of tryouts ahead of me.

"Look, don't worry about the other runners. Just focus on what you're doing and block out any distractions. If you do that, you'll beat everyone else in the race. You're really fast and you're going to get on the team." Clarisse said.

Thalia and Clarisse each gave me a hug, and then went to find a spot on the bleachers. I turned back to look at Percy. His green eyes looked full of both determination and worry, as if he was the one trying out.

"You're going to the fastest one here and you'll leave all the runners in the dust. We all believe in you. Good luck Annabeth." Percy said, and with that, he turned and walked toward the bleachers.

I felt guilty about being worried. All my friends believed in me and I didn't even believe in myself. How bad is that? I told myself to follow Clarisse's instructions and believe in what Percy said. I had to make on the team.

* * *

I crossed the finish line, panting heavily and sweating buckets. I had just run the mile and come in third in my heat. Like I said, I wasn't a long distance runner. I watched as the other three runners crossed the line and as the next heat got situated to run. The next heats passed by quickly, and I started stretching my legs to prepare for my sprint.

The sprint was 50 meters, and my goal was to be the fastest. That probably wasn't going to happen, but I knew that if I came in first, I would be less nervous about the relay. When Argos announced that all the miles had been run and the sprints were next, I felt myself getting less nervous.

The sprint is what I'm good at, not the mile. If I do well on this, I have a pretty good chance at getting on the team. As I stood by the starting line, waiting for my turn, I saw a redheaded girl getting situated to sprint.

I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen her earlier. How could I have missed the fact that Rachel Dare was trying out too? I had seen her run last year in PE, but I didn't think of her as someone to do school activities. I watched her det into the starting position to run. I heard a yell from the stands.

"Go Rachel!"

Luke and Chris had come to watch her. I knew that if I had tried out last year, I would be me, not her, that they would be yelling for. I ignored that thought, then watched as she sprinted into second place in her heat. Good, but I've seen better times than the one she got. The next heats passed by quicker than the miles, until I was next.

I was in the last heat, and was up against a couple of other fifth graders. I reminded myself of what Clarrise had said; to block out the other runners and focus. Then, the last runner for the previous heat crossed the finish line and the other kids in my heat and I stepped up to the starting line. I got in position, looking straight ahead of me. The air horn sounded (we don't use gunshots for starting races), and I sprinted down the lane. As I ran, I could hear my friends' cheering from the stands. I crossed the finish line, and looked around.

I. Had. Come. In. First.

Was that even possible? Did I have a false start? I had hoped I would come in first, but that just seemed liked a crazy dream. Now it had happened. I smiled, and then walked away from the finish line to get some water. Clarisse, Thalia, and Percy were all grinning and waving from the stands, and I just smiled back.

When it came time for the relay, I was nervous all over again. Argos had put me on a team with two fourth graders and Rachel. Whopee. I was going last, and Rachel was going third. Argos had made it cleaar that a big part of the relay was the hand-off of the baton. If we messed it up, your chance of getting on the team dropped. Like we need any more pressure.

Only one team went at a time, each person running a whole lap, so each group ran a mile in all. When it was our team's turn, the starting fourth graders did great, and then passed the baton to Rachel. She ran well, and when she was starting to come up behind me, I began jogging forward, waiting for the hand-off.

I heard Rachel's footsteps behind me and then the silver baton touched my hand. As I curled my fingers around the cylinder, still looking straight ahead. It felt as though someone was tugging on it. I tightened my grip on the baton, jogging slightly faster. Then, I felt the baton tumble from my hands, falling to the ground. I immediately reached down and grabbed it, watching Rachel as she backed off the track. I sprinted my lap, and then went over to my friends in the bleachers to watch the rest of the relays.

"Nice handoff, Chase" I heard someone snicker behind me.

I turned around to face Chris, who was standing there with a smirk on his face. Then, I understood what had happened between Rachel's' and I's hand-off for the baton. She had purposely tried to make it fall out of my hands by tugging on it. Rachel had made it look as though I had done it, making me have less of a chance to get on the team. She was diabolical, and I knew that nothing would stop her from getting what she wanted. I inwardly groaned, thinking of how I could now not make it on the team.

* * *

The next morning, Percy and I stopped cleaning early to see who had made it on the team. I wasn't that interested, seeing how one of the biggest parts of a relay was totally screwed up at my tryout. But Percy had grabbed my wrist and dragged me down to the hallway to see the list. Still holding onto my wrist, he pulled me into the swarm of kids that had already gathered there. We finally made it to the front when Percy let go of my wrist. My eyes locked on the white paper, and scanned it for my name.

* * *

Whew! Long chapter, but I guess that kind of makes up for the wait. Thanks for reading and please review!

-lunaclovegrimm


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the long wait! My best friend has written the three poems in this chapter. Hope you enjoy them! Her name on fanfiction is TheRoofIsOnFireDontQuestionIt.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

* * *

When Rachel entered the classroom, her eyes immediately found mine and she glared at me. It was obvious why, seeing how she had tried so hard for me not to get on the track team but I had still made it. When Percy and I had checked the list, we found my name at the bottom of the paper, the last person to make it. Rachel had made it in too, and I knew that she was going to do everything in her power to beat me at every race we did.

Rachel walked over to her table, still glaring at me. She sat down next to Luke, and they began talking together, throwing glances at me every once in a while. I didn't want to hear what they were saying. Percy caught my eye and saw who I was looking at. He turned back toward me and mouthed _"just ignore them". _

I nodded to Percy, and then turned back toward the front of the classroom. The final morning bell rang and Mr. Brunner walked up to the front of the classroom and wished us a good morning.

"For the next week, we will be working on a poetry project. Our goal is to be able to identify a good poem and the reasons why it is so good, whether it should be because of word choice, humor, or a cool format. Later this year, we will be using that information to write our own poems." Mr. Brunner said, "Today, all of you will receive a different poetry book. Look through the book and find one that interests you. If you want to, we can present some of those poems to the class and talk about what makes them a good poem."

After he explained that, he began putting stacks of books on each table. Katie really liked poetry, and all five of us knew that she was going to do better than any of us on this assignment. In her free time, she reads and writes poems so she had a lot of background information on this subject.

When Mr. Brunner came to our table with the books, Katie immediately grabbed the biggest one, saying that she had that book at home and absolutely loved it. I waited until everyone had gotten a book, and then grabbed the last one. I flipped through it, thinking of what kind of poem I would want to present to the class.

* * *

Charles Beckendorf nodded to the class after he finished presenting, and then went back to his seat. Mr. Brunner returned to the front of the classroom and asked the class about what they thought of the poem Charles had found.

We had finished looking for the poems a while ago, and now our class had just begun the presentations. Katie was latterly on the edge of her seat, waiting to be called upon to present. At our table group, only Katie and I were planning to present ours. I was very hesitant on doing it; I wasn't really sure whether or not my classmates would like the poem.

"Alright, next volunteer to present?" Mr. Brunner called.

Katie's hand shot into the air again, waving it around. She gave us a small smile, and then grabbed her piece of paper where she had written the poem she found and went to the front of the classroom. She looked around at all the tables, and sent a friendly smirk to Rachel's group. What the heck?

I ignored what had just happened and focused on Katie's presentation. She cleared her voice, and recited;

"'I Love You'

Awkward smile, awkward touch  
Why do I like  
You so much?

Small talk, a small wave too  
We barely speak  
But I love you

You say hello, I say hi back,  
I turn and pick up  
My backpack

I walk away from you again,  
But someday,  
This all will end:

I will tell you I love you,  
Won't you say  
You love me too?"

After she said the last line, the class was silent for a second before clapping. Katie grinned around to everyone, her eyes lingering on Rachel's table. She nodded to Mr. Brunner, and then came back to our table. She was still grinning when she came back to our table where the other three girls and I congratulated her. I know she didn't write the poem herself, but it was a great choice to present. Katie also said it with so much feeling that it was almost like she had written it herself.

I wondered if I was ever going to be able to be that good at presenting poems. I would probably be better at writing poems, because people say that I am good at language arts and writing.

Mr. Brunner asked for the next volunteer to present their poem. I was surprised to see Percy raise his hand. Not that I think he's dumb or something, it's just that he doesn't seem like a type of poetic speaking kid. Anyway, he volunteered and Mr. Brunner called on him.

Percy went to the front of the classroom with his paper, looked up, gave small grins to me, Nico, and Grover, and then began to read his chosen poem.

"'Autumn'

The trees are alive  
With the hues of autumn.

Colors swirl, mix, change  
Leaves wither, fall, wrinkle

Dried foliage is crushed under your feet  
The forest floor is coated in rainbows  
Of fall.

The smell of apple pie wafts through the air  
And children play in the distance.  
They laugh, for what is more joyous than the autumn harvest?

Even the deer  
And the squirrels sense it.  
They are loquacious in their chatter  
For they are excited and alive.

Alive. What is alive?  
Autumn, fall is alive  
For it brings its own beautiful  
Life."

I think I clapped the hardest when he finished reading and looked up. Like Katie, he did a great job of saying the words of his poem with meaning. It was though Katie and Percy practiced saying poetry in the mirror every day. Then again, Katie probably did. When Percy was walking back to his seat, he caught my eye and I flashed him a quick thumbs-up. He whispered "_thank you_" to me, and then sat down next to Nico and Grover where they greeted him with smiles.

Mr. Brunner thanked Percy for presenting, and then once again asked for any more volunteers to read their poems. Judging by the clock, we only had time for one more presentation before lunch.

_"Oh, what the heck,"_ I thought. _"Besides not being able to do outstanding poem presentations like Percy and Katie, how bad can I be?"_

It was as though Rachel had gotten inside my head, whispering "_Very bad, very, very bad." _I brushed that out of my brain and raised a tentative hand in the air. Before I could regret my decision and put my hand back down, Mr. Brunner called on me. I walked to the front, shaking all over.

I glanced at my friends, who were all smiling at me, pumping their fists and giving me "good luck" signs. I looked at Percy, who was smiling ear to ear to encourage at me. I mentally reminded myself to thank all of them later.

I looked at Rachel's table, where some of the boys were snickering at me. Rachel was looking at me with a contradicting smirk on her face, making me want to run back to my seat. Luke was just staring at me, totally poker-faced, his eyebrows slightly raised in surprise that I had volunteered.

I turned my focus back to the poem, and then began to recite the poem.

"'Think of Me'

As the wind blows  
Through the trees tonight  
Think of me  
Think of me.

As the flowers bloom  
In the springtime sun  
Think of me  
Think of me.

As the grass extends its points  
Towards the noonday light  
Think of me  
Think of me.

Think of me. Do  
You remember me?  
For I am gone  
Lost in sunlight,  
In flowers and hills  
But also in sadness,  
In mis'ry and pouring rain.  
Raining on me,  
On my long-lost self  
And I will never  
Come back."

The class began to clap when I said the last words of the poem. Rachel and her gang of boys where just sitting there, refusing to clap. Luke had a small smile on his face, which surprised me. I wondered if he was smiling because he remembered how I used to never want to get up in front of the class. I think I had just shocked myself by doing that presentation.

When I reached my friends, they couldn't be smiling more.

"Annabeth Chase getting up in front of the class to do a presentation," Clarisse said, "I never would've guessed that could happen."

I rolled my eyes, grinning at her comment. I glanced over at Percy who gave me a small wave and mouthed _good job_ to me. I mouthed _thank you_ back, and then turned back to the girls right as the bell rang.

* * *

The bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Like usual, all the kids sprinted to the door, waving good-bye to Mr. Brunner. My first track and field practice was today, and I was even more nervous for that than I had been for the tryouts. I was probably the laughing stock for all the other kids who had made it on the team.

I clenched my fists tightly when I thought of how me failing the handoff was Rachel's fault. I breathed deeply, and then grabbed my backpack and started heading over to the high-school with Silena, who wanted to watch my practice. I waved to my other friends, and then Silena and I exited the school.

When I had got to practice all the kids were smirking at me and the coach threw a disappointing glance at me when he mentioned that some kids barely made the team. Rachel smirked at that part, and looked at Luke and Chris in the stands. I ignored her eyes staring at me and concentrated on the rest of practice.

I came in first for all the sprints we did, beating Rachel twice. Coach Argos had put me on a relay team for the mile with Rachel and two fourth grade boys. Before I ran, he pulled me aside and told me that this was the time to prove that I belong on a relay team. He put as the third person running, so he could see me receive the baton and pass it on to the next person.

"Um, Coach?" I asked him as he began walking away, "Do you think Rachel could go first? I mean she's fast and stuff and you want the other boy to run last. And at tryouts…"

I trailed off, chickening out of telling him about what really happened at the tryouts. Argos looked at me curiously, and then glanced at Rachel, who was leaning over the railing by the stands, giggling with Luke and Chris. Argos frowned, as if starting to realize what Rachel might have done.

"Yes, I think it is a good idea to put Rachel first. I mean, we don't want the two fifth graders running right after each other, now do we?"

He gave me a friendly wink, and then walked back to the team who had gathered at the starting line. Rachel jogged over from the stands, giving me a menacing glare. I quickly looked back at Argos, not wanting to meet Rachel's eyes.

"Okay, next team!" Argos said. "Rachel Dare, Phillip Chen, Annabeth Chase, and Michael Alexander."

Rachel walked to the starting line and put the baton in her right hand, getting into her starting running position. The whistle blew, and she began running her lap. Phillip walked onto the track and got prepared to receive the baton. As Rachel made her last bend, he began jogging forward. Rachel passed him the baton with no mistakes.

I got on the track and watched Phillip run his lap. I started jogging forward when he was gaining on me, my hand outstretched. I looked forward and waited for the baton. As I felt the baton in my hands, I put a firm grip around it and surged forward, hearing Silena cheer from the stands. I made it around the first two bends with no problem, and then hoped all would go well for the infamous third bend.

My feet were burning, and I felt as though my lungs would explode. I sprinted for the last yards of the lap, slapping the baton down in Michael's palm, and then excited the track, joining my teammates on the field. I flopped down and watched Michael out of the corner of my eye.

Argos made eye contact with me, and then nodded his head with a smile, telling me that I really did deserve to be on the relay team. Michael crossed the finish line, getting our group a good time. I high-fived the boys, and then walked over to Silena as Argos announced the end of practice.

Silena and I linked arms and passed by Chris, Rachel, and Luke with smiles on our faces.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**-lunaclovegrimm**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so sorry for the long wait and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

* * *

"So Argos might have an idea of what Rachel did?" Percy asked.

I nodded, scrubbing the whiteboard in Mr. Brunner's room.

"That's good right?" called Nico from the back of the classroom.

"It's both good and bad." I responded, "Argos will probably separate the two of us at practices, which is good. But Rachel and her gang of boys will be really ticked. Rachel will think that I told him what happened, even though I didn't."

The three boys nodded at me in agreement. I tossed Grover an old whiteboard eraser to throw it away.

Percy grabbed a chair and brought by me so he could dust on top of the projector by the whiteboard.

"Do you think there's a chance that Rachel gets kicked off the team?" Percy asked.

"If it happens again, then yes. But I'm she's just getting a warning." I said.

We continued cleaning the classroom until the bell rang and the other kids came in.

As expected, Rachel, Luke, and the other boys came in glaring at me, muttering between themselves.

The girls joined at our table, catching up on all the Rachel drama. Katie stayed quiet through the whole conversation with a nervous expression on her face. Silena zoned out, having already heard everything after practice yesterday. Thalia threw glares at Rachel's table every five seconds and Clarisse muttered curses under her breath.

"Why doesn't Argos just kick her off the team? She doesn't deserve be on it," said Thalia.

I shrugged.

"Who knows?" I said, and then left the matter alone as Mr. Brunner went to the front of the room.

* * *

Coughs of "losers" were sent to my friends and me as Luke and Chris passed by. Usually I would just roll my eyes, but today it just pissed me off. I whirled around and stood up to meet Luke's startling blue eyes. His arms were folded in front of his chest and he had a smirk plastered on his face.

Chris kept on walking to his friends while Luke stayed.

"Luke, really?" I said, agitated. "Why can't you and your friends just leave us alone? Why us?"

"Well, Annie-"

He was cut off by murderous glare. Even Luke knew not to call me that.

"Whatever," he said. "Why do you think? Someone tipped Argos off about the baton relay."

"What about before?" I responded.

"What about before?" Luke said in a high pitched voice, trying to imitate my voice. He scoffed.

"Why do want to know so bad you little freak? Miss your old friends? Does little Annabeth want go back to being popular?" Luke said. "Well guess what little Anniebeth? You had your chance with us, and you tossed it in the trash."

I just stood there, not saying a word, a shocked expression on my face.

"What are you doing?" Luke taunted. "You're loser boyfriend is waiting for you. Go back to where you should be, with the nobodies."

He turned around, and stalked off to where Rachel was. I kept standing there, thinking about what he said.

"Annabeth." Silena whispered.

I snapped back to reality, and then slowly turned around to face the girls at our table. Katie didn't meet my eyes; Thalia was standing up with her mouth slightly open, and Clarrise was just looking at me, seeing if I was okay. Silena was standing next to the table, her arms open in a hug gesture. I smiled slightly, and gave her a small hug.

Then I noticed Percy, Grover, and Nico standing a little farther away from our table, obviously not knowing what to do. It was obvious from their facial expressions that they had heard what Luke said.

_"You're loser boyfriend is waiting for you." _Ugh. Look who's talking Luke- have you seen yourself with Rachel? Who was he to question my friendships with boys? After all, he, his friends, and I- never mind.

The girls and I gestured Percy and his friends over. They came over, sitting in their usual spots.

"Don't let it get to you." Percy muttered from beside me, so that no one else could hear. I gave a small nod and looked up to see his green eyes staring into my gray eyes. He offered a small smile, and I flashed a grin at him too.

"I'll ask about what just happened between you and Luke later, okay?" Percy said.

"O-Okay." I said, "Thanks."

"No problem," he responded.

No one mentioned Luke when we ate lunch, nor did I look at him at Rachel. At least, I tried not to.

* * *

As always, Percy and I met outside Mr. Brunner's classroom when the dismissal bell rang. We said good-bye to our friends, and then started walking home. This was one of the days that I don't have practice.

I could tell that Percy was still thinking about lunch from the way he was acting. He was talking normally, but he kept glancing at my face, as if deciphering if I was okay or not. He looked like he was deep in thought, as though he wasn't listening to a word I was saying. I honestly didn't care. I had only been talking about the first track meet, which was in about a week.

"What's up?" I asked him. Percy jumped a little, getting thrown out of his thoughts.

"Oh, um, well, it's actually about Luke. I know it's not my business, but I remember seeing you guys together a lot last year," said Percy.

I didn't say anything. I just kept staring at my feet, not wanting to meet Percy's eyes.

"Look Annabeth, every kid in school knew that you were best friends with those guys in third and fourth grade. But I guess no one really noticed that you guys 'split up' half-way through last year. Only your friends noticed." Percy said, gaining confidence in what he was saying as he continued, "And now they obviously noticed that Luke has changed his friendships, and his attitude. If you're wondering how I know this it's because I'm best friends with Grover. You're not the only friend Luke threw away."

I finally looked up at Percy. He was studying my reaction to what he said. I processed what Percy said in my brain. I hadn't even thought about Grover and the effect of everything had on him. I didn't want to talk about Luke right now, not even to a good friend.

"Look Percy, can we just drop the subject. I don't want to talk about it." I said, once again avoiding his gaze.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Sorry," Percy said.

"No, Percy I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at stupid Luke." I said, glaring at the sidewalk when I said Luke's name.

Percy gave me a small smile. We had reached the corner where we separate to the last blocks to walk home.

"Well, see you tomorrow Annabeth," Percy said.

"See you tomorrow Percy."

* * *

**Please review!**

**-lunaclovegrimm**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hope you like this chapter and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any of the charaters**

* * *

The cold air kept blowing my air into my face as I walked to school. I squinted across the street to see Percy's figure waiting for me on the corner. I waited for the walk signal to appear on the streetlight, and then joined him.

We didn't mention our conversation from yesterday about Luke. I definitely wasn't interested in talking or thinking about him before I even got to school. Percy and I talked about our plans for Halloween, which was in a month. As always, Thalia, Katie, Clarisse, Silena, and I were going trick-or-treating together. We usually match our costumes, and this year we were going as vampires. Most of the time, we go as monsters to get into the Halloween spirit.

I learned that Percy was going as a gladiator, Grover was going as a zombie, and Nico was going as a skeleton. We chatted all the way to Classroom Six, where we started cleaning until the bell rang and our other classmates came in.

Luke and I didn't look at each other as he came in, followed by his posse. I glanced at Percy to see him following Luke with his eyes as Luke walked to his table. After he sat down, Percy turned back to look at Nico and Grover. Over their shoulders, he caught my eye and wiggled his eyebrows at me in a comical way. I had to clap a hand over my mouth to keep from giggling as Mr. Brunner came to the front of the class and started talking.

The rest of the morning went well, until Mr. Brunner told us that we would have a test at the end of the day based on what we have been learning about in social studies. He assured us that it wasn't a test that required a lot of studying for, but he recommended looking over a couple of worksheets to rejog our memories.

Immediately, I began freaking out. Every test requires at least an hour of studying for, no matter what Mr. Brunner says. I knew that this test would mean studying during lunch to make sure I got a 100%. There was no way that I could flunk this quiz.

* * *

"Earth to Annabeth! Are you in there?"

I felt someone tap on my head, and looked up to see Katie standing above me with her arms crossed.

I had been studying for five minutes of lunch so far, and I was already in my studying zone.

"Annabeth, it's only a tiny little quiz. You'll do perfectly fine without the studying!" Thalia said, coming over to join Katie at our table.

"See? You're the smartest girl in school! No way you would get a bad score!" Katie said.

I snapped my binder shut and turned to look at them. Silena and Clarisse had come over to join us too.

"Guys, I am not the smartest girl in school! I'm probably not even the smartest girl in the class! If I don't study for this social studies test, I will fail!" I said to them.

Now Percy, Grover, and Nico arrived. They looked down at the binder in my hands and the irritated expression on my face. Grover smiled, understanding the situation.

"Mr. Brunner said you didn't have to study, you know." He said.

"I know!"

"So why exactly are you studying?" Silena asked.

"Guys! You study for tests, no matter what you're teacher says!" I said to them.

"So you think you'll fail if you don't study?" Percy said.

"Yes!"

"Well you won't fail," Percy said, "C'mon."

He pulled me to my feet, and Thalia pulled the social studies book out of my grip. My friends pushed me down to our regular handball court and tossed me the ball. I rolled my eyes, but hit the ball against the wall.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Clarisse said, "Studying's a waste of time!"

I laughed, and continued playing after Percy hit the ball. After a while, I forgot about the test after lunch, becoming queen of the court after a few rounds. For once, Rachel and Luke didn't come near us.

Finally, the bell rang, signaling my friends and I to walk back to our classroom. The test entered my head again, immediately making my nerves come back. Mr. Brunner came to the front of the classroom, went over our test, and started handing the papers out.

My foot started tapping and my throat started clamming up the way it always does before a test. I bit my lip in a nervous habit and glanced around at my friends who were all staring into space, and I knew that they were reviewing social studies facts in their heads.

I thought of the colonial times, which we had been learning about. I pictured the worksheets I had studying at lunch and reminded myself of the facts written on them.

Mr. Brunner dropped the paper in front of me, and I looked over the questions, seeing what information I should have studied. I started feeling the butterflies in my stomach come back and I silently cursed my self-consciousness about how much I knew in school.

* * *

I nodded to Mr. Brunner as I left the classroom after handing him my test. I waited right outside the doorway for Percy to pass Mr. Brunner. The tests had actually been pretty hard, and I know that I had definitely missed a couple questions. Percy came up beside me, and we grabbed our backpacks and headed out the door after waving good-bye to our friends.

As he walked home, we made small talk and didn't mention the test. When it came time to separate, we just nodded to each other and said good-bye. I was glad that Percy hadn't mentioned the test, but felt guilty about making a big deal of studying at lunch.

* * *

_One Week Later_

Whispers of test scores soared around the classroom, disobeying the classroom rules after Mr. Brunner hands back quizzes and tests.

"What did you girls get?" Thalia hissed at my friends and I.

"Seventeen out of twenty," Katie answered.

"Same as Katie." Thalia said back.

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen."

"Twenty out of twenty." I whispered.

Silena excitedly gave me a side hug.

"See? Smartest girl in the class!" Clarisse said, "We told you so!"

_"There must be a mistake. I thought I missed some questions." _I thought.

Mr. Brunner came to the front of the classroom and started speaking to us.

"If you did badly on the test, it will not impact your grade greatly. There was only one person who got a hundred-percent on this test. It was hard, and I wanted to see how much you paid attention in class and how much you without studying."

I flushed at the last part, feeling guilty. My score was only because I didn't follow my teacher's directions.

We continued with class, doing a whole bunch of math before lunch came.

As Mr. Brunner was excusing my classmates to leave, he told me stay back with him.

"Annabeth," he said to me, "I know that you know that I told you that you only had to study a little bit for the test I handed you back this morning, but I saw that you had studied quite hard before you took a break for your friends."

"Sorry," I whispered.

"Why are you apologizing? That shows dedication to school, and I wanted to pull you aside to congratulate you on that. I've checked out the grades for everyone in fifth grade, and it looks like you're the smartest kid we've got."

I shook my head in disbelief. That wasn't possible.

My teacher raised his eyebrows at me, but didn't say anything else. He excused me to lunch, and I left the classroom to get to my friends.

* * *

**Please review! I love to hear your feedback! And if you have a question on your reviews, please sign in on a account so I can PM you back.**

**-lunaclovegrimm**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow. Two chapters in one day! Your welcome! Please review! **

***This chapter happens one month after the last one.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

* * *

Halloween passed, with Thalia, Clarisse, Katie, Silena, Percy, Nico, Grover, and I all trick-or-treating together. Luke, Rachel, and their gang still aggravate us every day, but I guess I've almost gotten used to it. Some days are worse than others, and some days I just hear whispers and mutters directed at us, the "loser" group of our grade.

Thalia decide to wimp out on playing softball for school this year, and the track-and –field finals have passed, with me winning the sprint and my team winning the baton relay for the championships between the local school and their teams. Rachel had stayed on the team, but had been banned from a couple of meets.

She had come in tenth in the sprints out of all the kids, getting third best for our team. Argos had also put her on my team for the relay along with a fourth grader named Phoebe and another fifth grade girl, Zoë. I had pulled ahead of the team ahead of us on the last lap and made us win the baton-relay championships. Rachel had been even madder at me ever since, still ticked off that I had made the team even after almost two months of doing track.

Today the morning had gone as usual, Percy and I walking to school together and then Grover and Nico joining us in the classroom to joke around and clean. Now lunch had come, and it was the same drill as every other day.

The eight of us were eating lunch, trying to have a normal conversation with each other when of course Rachel and Luke had to step in. Rachel came up behind me and Percy and sat between us. Now, the tables that our school has for lunch are pretty small and usually only fit four people per bench on the side of the table. So when Rachel sat down, I was knocked onto the ground due to the fact I was sitting on the edge of the bench.

I silently cursed and pulled myself up, brushing the dirt of my jeans. That was the first time that Rachel had pushed me of the bench. I looked over at Luke and saw that he had pulled the same stunt as Rachel and had knocked Grover off the bench. All of our friends were glaring daggers at the uninvited guests.

"Whatever, you guys," Percy said to our group, "Let's just leave."

I nodded, and we all started collecting our lunches and backpacks to go down to the lower playground area.

"Running away so fast Chase?" Rachel sneered to my retreating back.

I stopped in my tracks, and didn't breathe. I bit my lip and decided what to do. I turned back around, and saw that Rachel had now stood up to face me, her green eyes piercing me and her mouth sneering cruelly at me, begging me to pick a fight with her and her friends.

My breath was shaking, and then I felt someone tug on my arm. I glanced behind me to meet Percy's eyes. He nodded to my friends, telling me to head along with them and ignore Rachel. I turned back around to look at Rachel's sneering face. At the last second, I turned my back to her again and left with my friends.

When we got to our handball court, Percy turned to face me for the first time, and I knew what was coming.

"What's Rachel's deal?" Percy said.

The rest of my friends came up behind me, interested in my answer. The handball lay by the wall, our game forgotten.

"Look, Rachel and I _do_ have a small history and it does involve Luke. And once again, I don't want to talk about it. She knows what she can say to hurt me, and she uses that, as you can tell. That's all I'm saying."

I knew that my friends wanted more information about it, but they left it at that. Even Grover didn't know why I left Luke and his friends. I knew he left because Percy and Nico became friends and Grover learned that they were better friends to him than Luke. I already had my four girls as my other friends, but I had still hung out with the boys too.

For the rest of our game, we just had small talk and didn't really joke around, our minds on Luke and Rachel.

* * *

After school, the eight of us were planning on staying after school and just hang out, maybe do some homework or something. So after lunch, the girls and I double-checked with the boys about our plans. Everything was still going to go as planned.

In class, Mr. Brunner gave us free time to read our class book. I settled behind the counter along with a few other kids. We were reading Bridge to Teribithia for required fifth grade academics at our school. I leaned against the back of the counter and settled down.

About five minutes later, I felt someone sit down next to me. I looked to my left to face Luke. I rolled my eyes, not wanting to deal with any more jerks today. I looked down, and kept reading. I felt Luke's eyes still trained on me.

"What do you want?" I hissed.

He didn't answer.

"I want to know why you left." He sneered. His voice was cold and untrustworthy.

I sat up, and looked over the counter. Mr. Brunner was at his desk, grading papers. Percy, Nico, and Grover were at their desks reading. Katie was at the front of the classroom, sprawled out on the floor with her book. By her, Rachel sat on a stool, her eyes focused on her reading. Thalia and Silena were at their desks. Under our table, Clarisse was lying down, propped up on her elbows to read.

No one was paying any attention to our conversation. Suddenly I realized something. Rachel wasn't glancing at the counter. She didn't know that Luke was talking to me.

I sat back down to glare at Luke.

"Why should I tell you why I left? You never asked last year."

He didn't have an answer to that.

"Why now?" I finished.

He glared at me for a few more seconds, and then answered.

"What kind of jerk hangs out with people for a year and then ditches them without any explanation?"

"Is this why you have been torturing my friends and me every day?" I hissed, snapping my book shut.

"You act like I'm the bully Annabeth. _Who was the one who ditched their friends?_" He said through clenched teeth.

"What the heck Luke? Why didn't you ask me last year? You could've said something to me about it. But _no_, you just went on as though nothing had happened. You didn't care at all that Grover and I didn't hang out with you anymore. You never cared about us."

He rolled his eyes and sneered at me.

"Whatever. You left us and didn't even look back."

"You think I didn't look back? You think I never missed you guys?"

"Yeah! I do!"

"Well you obviously didn't miss me either, I mean, you replaced me with Rachel!"

"And we didn't replace the cripple!" Luke said in a sing-song voice.

"Don't talk about Grover that way." I snarled.

"Oh, protecting your loser friends again? What a good friend." Luke sneered back. "I told you before, and I am telling you again. You only have the losers left, and you belong with them."

I blinked back the tears starting to form. I cursed how weak I was acting in front of him.

"You probably think you're the smartest girl in school. News flash Annabeth, you aren't that special. You're not smarter than anyone here. Stop acting like you are," Luke finished.

The bell rang just as the tears started spilling. Like Rachel, Luke knew how to make me feel so weak.

I stood up and without thinking, ran out the door without my stuff. In the hallway, my classmates were celebrating about the weekend that had just started. I ran past them, my hands covering my face. I stumbled down the stairs and turned into the girls' bathroom in the hall by our classroom.

I got in one of stalls and shut the door. I leaned against the door and cursed myself again for crying over what Luke said. I waited, calming my breathing down. Then, I heard footsteps outside the bathroom. The footsteps came into the bathroom, and I saw my friends' shoes.

"Told you Thalia. See her converse under the door?" I heard Clarisse say.

"Annabeth?" I heard four voices say.

* * *

**IMPORTANT NOTE: This story will only be about fifteen chapters long and will not have a sequel.** **It will end after fifth grade and have a tiny epilogue. Don't expect this story to be long.**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

* * *

_"Annabeth?" I heard four voices say._

I didn't answer them. I pressed my hands harder into my face to dry my tears. Maybe they would leave me alone after a while.

I saw Thalia's black boots shuffle back and forth in front of the stall door. I didn't listen to what they were saying. I didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

"Should we leave her alone?" I heard Katie whisper.

There was silence on the other side of the door, and I could imagine the other three girls shaking their heads. Then, I heard more voices outside the bathroom.

"Is she in there?" I heard Nico call out.

"Yeah!"

Nico, Grover, and Percy started arguing outside the bathroom. After a few seconds I saw more feet appear under the door. The three of them had joined my friends.

"We know you're in there, Annabeth. Can you talk to us?"

I shook my head, and then realized that they couldn't see me. I let out a tiny squeak and decided that my friends could figure out what it meant.

"Was it Luke?"

"Was it Rachel?"

"Are you okay?"

"We don't have all day, you know."

"Go get her backpack before someone takes it."

"Are you crying?"

"I hate Rachel."

"Shut-up Nico."

All their questions and comments came flying at me and I hardly had any responses to them. I just remained silent until I saw Clarisse's sneakers come back under the door and saw her drop my backpack next to her.

"Thanks." I whispered,

"She's alive!" I heard Thalia shout.

I stifled a small laugh.

I heard muttering on the other side, and then the stall door next to me opened. In a few seconds, I saw Percy's head appear over the wall of the tiny bathroom stall. He lifted himself up so he was sitting directly on top of it, and then reached his foot down to undo the lock. He looked down at me, and I just glared at him for opening the door.

Slowly I stepped toward my friends, not wanting to meet their eyes. Percy hopped down from his perch behind me and walked around to stand by Nico. Silena was the first one to step forward and wrap her arms around me. Clarisse and Thalia joined the embrace and pulled a reluctant Katie in too.

"Sorry," I muttered, "I'm making what happened a big deal. I'm fine."

"No you're not," Clarisse said.

"Yeah, I mean he sent you to a bathroom stall crying. You're definitely not fine," Silena added.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. My grey eyes were framed with red and my cheeks were flushed pink from the crying. I looked like a mess. I turned to address my friends and explained what happened, but another group of people came in, led by Rachel.

"Oh, it's a party! This is pretty nice loser hangout you got here Chase." Rachel sneered.

I clenched my fists and looked down, not wanting to face her.

"Can you guys just leave her alone?" Thalia said in a bored tone.

"Oh! A coward too! That's so sweet that Chase can't even stand up for herself," Rachel said.

I looked up to see Silena lunge toward Rachel but be held back by Thalia and Grover. They restrained her, but I could see that everyone looked close to killing Rachel too. I didn't want anyone to get in a fight for fear of getting in trouble, but I wouldn't mind throwing a few punches at Rachel.

Luke walked in and pushed himself past Charles, Chris, Michael, and Lee to stand next to Rachel. His cold blue eyes met mine, and he smirked to see my pathetic crying face.

"Leave. Us. Alone." Thalia growled.

"Um, we can do whatever the heck we want. There's no teacher saying we can't," Rachel snapped.

I saw the boys around her shuffle closer to her, their arms crossed. I knew that they were getting ready to protect their little red-headed princess should any one try to attack her again.

"If you can do whatever you want, why don't you leave?" Grover said.

"Does it look like we want to leave cripple?" Luke snarled.

"Okay, back off! Just leave us alone, that is all we're asking! We don't want anything in return. I think that you've bullied us enough today. Just. Leave." I exploded.

I pointed to the door leading to the empty hallway. I brought my grey eyes up to meet Rachel's green eyes.

She stepped toward me, her eyes flashing. My friends backed up so that when she talked, only I could hear her.

"I know what to say to you to make you cower before us Blondie. I've done it before, and don't think I won't do it again. I got what I wanted Chase." Rachel muttered.

"What's that Dare? Happiness when you bully my friends and I?" I said back.

"Oh, this isn't about this year. This is about last year. You thought you had it all, didn't you? New friends, all the protection you needed. But you ran away from me so easily last year that you let me see how to get to you. It's your own fault I know what hurts you most."

I was shaking now, being a coward again.

"Just stop. Leave my friends alone. I already gave up what I had and handed it over to you Rachel. Stop coming back." I growled.

"Fine, I'll leave. But just know that I am able to get your friends and make them mine _very_ easily," Rachel finished.

She and the boys turned to leave. Once Rachel and Luke had almost gotten to the door, they turned around.

"Are you coming with us or are you going to stay with the freaks?" Luke addressed one of my friends.

Katie stepped forward, her dirty-blonde hair hanging around her with her head bowed. She looked back up to meet Rachel's eyes, and smiled. She nodded, and stepped toward the door.

"Whoa! Am I missing something Katie?" Clarisse said.

"Yeah, when did you join the dark side?" Silena said.

Katie turned back toward us, her head turned up in a proud expression. She smirked, an expression I'd seen plastered on Luke's and Rachel's faces so many times.

"I've-I've been friends with these guys for a while. They said I didn't belong with you guys; that I shouldn't be with the l-losers. They've left me alone when they've been teasing you guys. I think I agree with them. I don't belong with the losers." Katie said, sneering at the last part.

She turned back around, linked arms with Rachel, and left the bathroom.

"We should've seen it coming. They always did leave her alone when they bullied us." Clarisse said.

I couldn't believe it. We had been friends with Katie since kindergarten. And now she deserts us? I felt tears rolling down my face at the thought of her betrayal. I saw Silena and Thalia tearing up too. Clarisse didn't cry a lot, so I wasn't surprised to see that her face wasn't tear-stained.

"Sorry about Katia," Percy said.  
"Yeah," Nico and Grover agreed.

We gave small appreciative smiles to them, but didn't say anything.

"Annabeth," Percy said, "You really need to tell us what Rachel and Luke have against you."

I thought about it, and then finally decided on what to do. Having heard what Percy said, my friends turned to listen to what I was going to say.

"You guys do deserve to know why they always bully me. I'm going to tell you the story on Monday. Okay?" I said hesitantly.

"Well that's better than nothing!" Clarisse said.

I smiled.

"We should probably leave; I think we've stayed after school for long enough." Nico said.

We all nodded, and then grabbed our stuff to leave.

As Percy and I walked home, I thought about how all my friends would laugh at why Luke and Rachel hate me. When we reached the corner where we separated, Percy seemed to have read my mind and said to me,

"No matter the reason they don't like you, we'll still be your best friends Annabeth. We won't leave you," Percy said.

I smiled and then opened my arms in a hug gesture. Percy accepted, and we hugged for a few seconds.

"Thank you," I said.

He just grinned back at me, and then waved good-bye. I waved back, and then started heading down the last block home.

_"Best friends,"_ I repeated to myself.

* * *

**Please review! Only a few more chapters left in this story!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO (you should know this by now)**

* * *

I looked out my window and kept sketching the window of the building across from me. The architectural details were outstanding on the edges, and this was one of my favorite drawings. Focusing on my drawings gave me time to focus on something other than how I had promised my friends to tell them what the history between Rachel and I was.

It had been the only thing I thought about all weekend, and I kept getting nervous about how my friends would react to the information.

I put down my notebook in discouragement as my mind wandered to Katie. I flopped down on my bed and closed my eyes. For the hundredth time that weekend, my eyes filled with tears as Katie's words echoed in my head. She had left her best friends for people she barely knew, and it was because she agreed with Rachel and judged us as losers.

I groaned, flopped over again, and reviewed what I was going to say to my friends tomorrow.

* * *

I tugged my blue jeans on, and tied up my converses. I pulled on my orange sweater and looked at myself in the mirror. My blonde hair was in a low ponytail tumbling down my back, and I had put on my silver owl earrings. I sighed loudly, worrying about the day ahead of me. I took one last glance at myself, and then ran downstairs.

I grabbed my pre-packed backpack, and headed out the door. Percy greeted me at the corner in his usual manner. We started heading to school, and soon he brought up my promise to my friends.

"When will you tell us?" he asked.

"At lunch, I guess. We'll all be there, and I don't want to do it after school or something." I responded.

Percy nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense. So, all your secrets will be spilled at lunch," Percy said. I rolled my eyes and laughed, getting less nervous about telling them.

Percy and I walked and talked to Classroom Six, where we greeted Nico and Grover. They reminded me of my promise again, and I told them I was going to talk at lunch.

In a short time, the bell rang and my other classmates filed into the room. Thalia, Clarisse, and Silena rushed over to me.

"WhatarewegoingtodoKatiesitsatourtableandthat'snot goingtoworkoutandweneedtochangeseats," Silena fired at me.

"Whoa! Slow down!" I said, "We do need to change seats. Katie probably wants to sit with her new _friends_. Maybe we should ask Mr. Brunner about switching up tables."

The girls nodded in agreement.

"Hey, we might not need to talk to Mr. Brunner," Thalia said.

"What?"

"Why?"

She pointed across the classroom to show us Luke, Rachel, and Katie talking to Mr. Brunner and motioning to the tables. He nodded, and then walked over to us.

"It looks like we'll need to be switching tables. Is it okay if we move Katie to the back table?" Mr. Brunner said to us.

Thalia started nodding a bit too fast and encouragingly, so Silena and I had to elbow her in the ribs. Mr. Brunner raised his eyebrows at her, but didn't comment.

In a few moments, Katie had left to go sit with Rachel and the boys, while Thalia, Clarisse, Silena, and I were left with only four desks at our table. I think that was okay by us.

* * *

I sat down at our lunch table and looked up at my friends to see them all staring at me. I set down my sandwich and looked around the table.

"What?"

"Umm…it's lunchtime?" Nico said.

"Shoot," I muttered.

"You are going to tell us about Rachel right?" Silena said.

I glanced at where Luke and Rachel were sitting, and noticed that this lunch they had a new edition to their group. I glared at them, but my look went unnoticed by Rachel and Katie.

"Annabeth, if you don't want to tell us today, we can wait for tomorrow I guess," Percy said.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Thalia shouted.

"Absolutely not!" Clarisse added.

"Whoa!" Percy said, putting his hands up in defense, "Chill out!"

There was some grumbling from the girls, but they decided to shut-up.

"You may begin!" Silena said, gesturing to me.

I took a deep breath, and then began.

"Well, I guess you could it started in third grade. I don't remember exactly how I got to be friends with Luke, Charles, Chris, and Lee, but anyway, I started hanging out with them a lot. I sat with them at lunch and worked together with them in class. We all became close friends, but of course I didn't forget the girls. I was still best friends with them."

Thalia, Clarisse, and Silena nodded, remembering what had happened.

"Well, as third grade finished, the boys and I still stayed in touch a bit and hung out a couple times when we were all free to meet up. The summer ended, and the boys and I kept our friendship going. We still stuck together at lunch and class and stuff," I continued.

"What does this have to do with Rachel?" Nico asked.

"Shut-up Nico and let her finish," Clarisse said.

"Thanks Clarisse. Anyway, we continued our friendship and soon considered each other as best friends. Do you guys remember the fourth grade picnic in the beginning of the year?"

My friends responded with nods of their heads.

"Well, the guys and I all hung out at the picnic together," I said, "Grover, can you give me the picture?"

Grover nodded, and reached into his backpack and pulled out the picture that Luke and Rachel had been teasing him about a few weeks ago. I looked at it for a couple of seconds, and then pushed it into the middle of the table for my friends to see.

"Well, this picture was taken at that park we went to at the picnic. I remember joking around with them, including Grover. He was part of our group little group. The reason why I'm mentioning this picnic is because when we were all talking, Luke said something that seemed to make our friendship stronger. He said that we were all as close as family, like I was their little sister and they would always be there for me."

Grover nodded, staring at the picture again.

"I believed them. My stupid little fourth grade mind said that we would always be friends, always be like siblings. Our friendship kept going for another month before Rachel came into the picture. I had always suspected that she had been jealous of me for being so close with the boys. Well, she started coming up to me at lunch and bullying me."

My friends' perked up now that we had come to the part about Rachel.

"She talked about how I wasn't worth hanging out with the boys, that I was too weak and dumb. She's the reason why I've started doubting myself so much. She told me that I could never be the smartest girl in school, that I was a complete loser that didn't deserve friends as cool as Luke and those guys. By this point, Grove had left our group to hang out with Percy and Nico."

I bit my lip and looked down.

"Well, I left the guys. I believed what Rachel said and stopped hanging out with the 'cool guys'. I didn't give the boys an explanation why I left, so that's why Luke hates me. Rachel replaced me in their group, becoming the little princess that they needed to protect. Rachel learned how weak I was, and now uses that against me. She ruined my life and stole my friends from me, and I was never strong enough to fight back."

I choked, remembering all of my wonderful memories with Luke, Katie, Charles, Chris. She took all them away from me. I felt a tear slide down my face.

Percy put an arm around my shoulders, and Thalia came over and patted my back comfortably.

"Thanks you guys. Well, Rachel never stopped torturing me after she got to form the 'cool group' with Luke. She'll never stop," I finished.

"We'll make her stop," Percy said.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**-lcg**


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